Chapter 53

Chapter 53 \nVol 3: Chapter 53\n

Even though it was night, the citizens of the Empire were out of their house and looking up at the sky. Many searchlights chased “Queen of the Night”, as well as a number of airships in the sky.

Nine pillars of light beamed up.

With evenly spaced distance between each light, the pillars of light circled around the Empire.

The scene was so unrealistic that people wondered if it was a show.

「Why can’t I see the stars…?」

I was on the roof of the tallest building near the place where I could see the sky well. For some reason, the five-story building’s rooftop was a storeroom, with tables, chairs, tools and wood left unorganised.

I strained my eyes to look closely at the sky. “Queen of the Night”, which passed right above me a while ago, was escaping wonderfully, while about five other airships were giving chase. Other airships were deployed from here and there. Some of them seemed like they held a faint hope that they could catch up with “Queen of the Night” if they could circle around it, and some others seemed like they had given up halfway through the pursuit.

But what caught my mind was the sky itself. Right before I entered Her Highness’ room, I saw a beautiful starry sky. But now the night sky was painted black. Even the amount of light reflected from the moon was greatly reduced, as if a fog was blocking it. And although the streetlights illuminated the direct ground, the rooftop where I stood was sunk in the dark.

(Is it some thick rain clouds? But it doesn’t rain much here except during the rainy season.)

While I was pondering on the eeriness of the black sky, the black seemed to swirl like a vortex. I thought it was an optical illusion, but I heard a voice on the ground shouting, “The sky!!!”

Meri Meri, Meri Meri Meri Meri Meri Meri Meri Meri Meriー

At that time, a sound was heard. A sound similar to breaking a live tree over time.

I felt cold chills, as if I had contracted the worst kind of influenza.

(Why can’t I discern the true nature of that vortex even though I’m looking through【World Ruler】?)

Like a drop of blood, a red spot appeared in the center of the vortex. The red flowed in parallel with the vortex. As the red spot opened up like the aperture blades of a camera, heads of big snakes came slithering down.

Not just one or two, but big snakes numbering in the hundreds and thousands. Some were spotted and some were striped. Then, something resembling the trunk of a sea anemone came down from the same spot.

「KYAAAAAAAA!!!」

The people on the ground broke into panic.

The sea anemone—or rather, snake anemone, easily exceeded the “Queen of the Night” in size. Seeing something like that descending from the sky, one or two screams is quite natural. Its appearance physiologically brought out the feeling of disgust from those who witnessed it—as if the appearance was intentionally made for that purpose.

「It’s the same…」

Even as I felt creeps and chills running down my body, I couldn’t take my eyes off the snake anemone.

I was able to analyze the snake anemone with【World Ruler】, but it wasn’t of much use. Because it only relayed information like “a living thing”, “snake with highly toxic fangs” and such.

Rather than that, I had an intuition. That the snake anemone was the same as Ouroboros.

「It’s a monster from the “Other World”!」

Taken aback, I surveyed around the snake anemone. I didn’t see the mediator.

As I was feeling relieved on one hand, the question of why this happened arose.

「Crap, think later.」

The snake anemone’s body stretched several hundred meters and was fast approaching the ground. It was about 3 kilometers away from me.

I ran using【Sprinting Technique】, and jumped from building to building using【Jumping Technique】. I ran along rooftops and roofs towards the snake anemone.

I did consider running away, but it would seem that I am connected by fate to the “Other World”. When looking at it that way, I thought to at least help with the evacuation of those who were too late to escape.

「Eh? A person?」

Lev people who were looking out the window saw me.

「Hide in a sturdy place!」I shouted.

The road below was already in a mixture of screams and turmoil. Panicked citizens pushing at each other to escape from the snake anemone.

『Citizens, we are confirming the appearance of unknown enemies. Please evacuate as far as possible. In 1 minute, we will launch attacks from the airship.』

One of the military airships returned and made an announcement from the sky, which spurred confusion.

(Are you just going to start attacking with only a short warning?)\n

I thought, but the big snakes had already bitten and lifted several Lev people off the ground. Casualties had already appeared.

『We strongly recommend evacuation. Please don’t hide in a sturdy building or under shelters. 10, 9, 8……』

By the time the countdown started, I was about 300 meters from the snake anemone.

The snake anemone plunged down onto the ground, crushing the buildings beneath. Intense cloud of dust rolled up and my foothold swayed.

『…3, 2, 1』

Three shells were fired from the fort of the airship. The shells drew an arc in the air and sank into the body of the snake anemone, detonating. More and more buildings collapsed as the snake anemone twisted and writhed. But the bombardment seems to be effective.

「Uwaaaaaaa! Uwaaaaaa–」

Hearing a cry near a collapsed building, I ran over there.

I saw a Lev girl standing stock still and crying her eyes out.

「What’s wrong?」

「Uwaaaaaaaaaaa—」

I couldn’t even talk to her as she just kept crying.

At that moment, my ears picked up moaning from inside the debris.

「Is there someone inside?」I asked the girl.

「M-M-Mommy…」

The girl finally responded. I nodded and activated【Earth Magic】to raise the ground. It pushed away the debris and created a gap. Inside, was a woman with an injured leg.

「Grab my hand! I will pull you out!」

「Uh, oh, th-thank you…」

「Mommyyyyyyyy!」

As I pulled out the woman, the girl hugged her. Her leg was injured—I told her to evacuate as soon as I confirmed that she could walk after I applied the minimum【Healing Magic】. And then, I started running again.

(I could’ve cured her completely, but I should probably preserve my mana at the moment…)

After that, I helped a few citizens who were late to evacuate in 3 more places, and found people who had already died in 4 other places.

During that time, the bombardment from the airship continued. And it seems that the snake anemone had recognized the airship as an enemy. It hurled its huge body and crashed into the airship.

「Ah!」

The fuselage of the airship was torn, and the airship fell from the sky while scattering metal and wood. Crushing buildings, it crash landed about 200 meters away from me. And subsequently exploded, creating a blast of dust.

「Shit!」

How many people were on that airship? How many survived? Maybe everyone is alreadyー.

Kiri Kiriーa sound was heard. It was from my mouth. I was grinding my teeth too hard out of vexation.

The airships in the sky have already shifted from pursuing “Queen of the Night” to responding to the snake anemone. Airship with turrets installed turned around and began to rain down bombardment. The unarmed airships, which seemed to belong to companies, left the Empire’s skies as if escaping.

「This place is also dangerous.」

No matter how big the snake anemone is, several of the shells missing the target is entirely possible. In fact, one missed shell fell into a nearby building and it exploded into flames.

I should escape too.

That’s what I thought, but my legs didn’t want to move.

「Shit! Shit! Shit!」

The distance to the snake anemone was several hundred meters. It was about 100 meters up in the sky and I had no way to get there.

Even though it caused so much destruction, is it not possible to retaliate without an airship?

My frustration was rising.\nEven though there are people stronger than me, I thought myself to be quite strong. However, I am way too powerless to deal with a monster of that size. The monster was out of range of all offensive magic such as【Fire Magic】and【Wind Magic】. I can’t even retaliate with one shot.

「No, wait… if it’s just “one shot”, maybe I could pull it off?」

When Leon betrayed us, he used Non-san as a shield. At that time, I wished I had a magic which could be invoked similar to precision shooting.

Certainly, you can’t use magic which could pass through a needle hole. I feel that it would be possible if there were other skill orbs besides【Mana Control】, but anyway, I can’t invoke minimum magic at the moment.

However, on the flip side, I can compress maximum magic into a small size.

「【Fire Magic】disappears if blown away by wind, so its effective range is short, but if I compress a high-output【Fire Magic】, for example… it might work.」

I envisioned the maximum magic that the Mithril-rank adventurer Crysta-la-Crysta displayed. That magic that substantially chomped down even the vitality of a dragon with one shot should naturally be effective on the snake anemone.

No, if I was as proficient with【Fire Magic】as Crysta was, I should be able to fly in the sky using blasts, but I still don’t have that ability. To be precise, I do have the ability, but lack the skill to control it.

Crysta was the real life example of “A master in one art does not dabble in many arts.” On the contrary, I can do everything, but can’t do anythingーJack of all trades and master of none.

「For now, let’s think about a way to combine the “everything” I can do.」

I should be able to compress high-output magic. Next is, how close can I get to the snake anemone.

「!」

At that moment, I noticed another black shadow in the sky.

「Wh-What, the…」

It was way too big to call it an “airship”. So vast and gigantic that even if you placed 10 of Muge-san’s warehouses on it, it would still have a surplus of space left. Many small airships took off from there.

Exactly what you would call an “aircraft carrier”. Just, instead of sailing in the sea, it was flying in the sky.

 

The Black Sky Pirate Smiles Under The Moonlight

** Anastasia **

You were hiding something like this?ーAnastasia thought.

「What do you think? This is the Empire’s ultimate weapon, the strategic airship “Sky Harvest”.」

The Emperor happily walked inside the flying aircraft carrier “Sky Harvest” with Anastasia by his side.

All of a sudden, the Empire’s sky was blanketed by darkness. A huge and eerie creature descended from the blood-red void in the darkness. The Emperor, however, was calm because he had this strategic airship.

If “Queen of the Night” is a beautiful, fast airship, “Sky Harvest” is a clunky but big and strong airship. At least 100 people are needed to operate this airship.

「Just when I was thinking that we successfully captured the Labyrinth of Fear and the Labyrinth of Hatred, things turned out like this. But looking at it from another perspective, this is a great opportunity to test the power of “Sky Harvest”.」

The Emperor, accompanied by many of his ministers as well as Anastasia, arrived at the guest room located at the top of the control room. Overlooking the many people working in the control room, the battle with the snake anemone can be seen through the magic tempered glass attached to the front.

Due to the simultaneous bombardment from the military airships, the body of the snake anemone and the big snakes were enveloped in large flames. As the sea anemone twisted and turned as if in pain, cheers rose from the ministers.

The Emperor intended to treat himself to “watching a giant monster subjugation” from first-class viewing together with the ministers. Anastasia was only brought here to add glitz.

Hearing she was going to board an airship, Anastasia wore a culottes skirt, which is also used for horseback riding, long boots, and a stab-proof jacket. Her throat was bandaged again just in case, and she wore a scarf over it, so it wouldn’t raise suspicions.

(But still… what is this feeling I’m getting?)

Anastasia, however, was struck by an unpleasant premonition. There is no doubt that the airship fleet of the Lev Magic Empire is a rare military force in this world. The number of airships equipped with turrets is close to 40, and no other country can fire as many shells, as if firing hundreds of arrows.

「Our army is the strongest.」

「It can be said to be the best in the world.」

The ministers talked with excitement.

(But… it doesn’t seem effective on that monster, though?)

That question is at the root of Anastasia’s premonition. Purple bodily fluids scattered about, and carcasses of snakes kept falling to the ground, but the snake anemone was still alive and the number of big snakes does not appear to have diminished.

Black smoke from the bombardment obstructed the view and it was difficult to see, but the snake anemone did not show any signs of dying at all.\n\nThe open mouth seemed like a gaping wide hole, with innumerable white teeths lined inside. Its sole purpose is to eat, grind and swallow.

Light gathered in the back of the hole. The snake was trying to shoot them as well.

「S-Shoot it quickly!」

『5 seconds left. 4, 3, 2, 1.』

At the same time as the commander issued “Shoot!”, the main gun shone bright, and a beam of pale light was fired at the trunk hanging from the red spot in the sky.

A deafening roar echoed. “Sky Harvest” itself rocked a few meters behind due to the recoil of the discharge.

As a result, the accuracy of the hit was reduced. The beam hit the right half of the trunk directly and exploded, accompanied with another deafening sound.

On the other hand, as a result of the recoil movement, the energy wave fired by the snake anemone did not hit the control room directly. However, a large hole was made in the hull, and the “Sky Harvest” swayed as if about to capsize.

Screams broke out in the commander’s office.

Alarms were sounding due to the serious damage.

Anastasia grabbed a railing right beside her and desperately held on.

(We’re going to crash! We couldn’t defeat the enemy! What’s going to happen?!)

Such thoughts filled Anastasia’s mind, but at that time–

(Where is Reiji?)

She remembered the boy who worked hard to cure her peculiar constitution, and got injured for her sake.

He went through a hard time because of Polina’s misunderstanding and Anastasia’s guards, but even in that moment, he was still worried about Anastasia.

(For Reiji-san’s sake too… I can’t give up and die in this place!)

When she opened her eyes wide, in front of the now slanted “Sky Harvest”, she saw almost half of the huge trunk was torn to pieces. And one other thing — Why is that here?

A beautiful silver hull floated calmly in the air despite the presence of the disordered military airship fleet.

“Queen of the Night” was on the other side of the trunk.

The figure of a person could be seen standing on the deck—even though it was dangerous due to strong winds.

(A woman?)

The black cloak which blends into the darkness, proof of the sky pirates, fluttered in the sky. And underneath it was a violet combat uniform that was not “lady”-like. Her blonde hair tied to the back blew in the strong wind.

Her violet pupils that seemed to stand unyielding in the face of the entire world, were staring down at the torn-to-pieces huge monster dangling from the sky.

Anastasia, of course, did not hear the voice of the girl when she opened her mouth at that time.

——Aa-ah, this thing is already so broken…….

The girl had an expression that was too unsuitable for the current circumstances.

She was smiling.

Fearlessly. Irreverently. Mysteriously.

It was as if the existence before her was no more than a trivial creature.

——Die, you giant oaf.

The girl’s hand was holding darkness. A black blade-like darkness.

What appeared in the sky as she swung her arm was the blade of the “Shadow King”, which even sliced off the neck of a dragon.

The blade descended.

A spectacle often depicted in myths and legends.

Calling it a giant blade does not do it justice. It was as if a god’sーthe God of Darkness’ blade was swung down upon the world.

The snake anemone was not the only thing slashed apart by the blade of “Shadow King”. Even the darkness that spread in the sky and the blood red spot were torn apart, and the moon beyond appeared.

While the moonlight illuminated the upper sky, the giant snake anemone fell to the ground. Bodily fluids poured onto the ground like heavy rain from the cut end of the trunk in the sky.